Cardiovascular disorders are responsible for thousands of deaths each year. Cardiac arrhythmias are one of these disorders contributing to such deaths. While the true causes of arrhythmias are unknown, it is believed that they are caused by some abnormality in the rate, regularity or site of origin of cardiac impulses, or by disturbances which affect the sequence of activation of the atria and ventricles.
Several drugs currently are used in the treatment of arrhythmias, the most notable including quinidine, procainamide, lidocaine and digitalis. A great deal of interest recently has been generated over a new antiarrhythmic agent, aprindine, a 2-aminoindane derivative; see U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,813. Several diphenylalkylamines also have recently been reported to have useful antiarrhythmic activity; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,001,328, 4,034,011 and 3,987,201. Phenoxyalkylamine antiarrhythmic agents also are known; U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,664.
Biphenylyl alkylamines having antiarrhythmic activity are heretofore unknown. It accordingly is an object of this invention to provide such compounds, as well as formulations and a method of treating cardiac arrhythmias.